Moreover Elihu answered and said,
Hear my words, ye wise men;
And give ear unto me, ye that have knowledge.
For the ear trieth words,
As the palate tasteth food.
Let us choose for us that which is right:
Let us know among ourselves what is good.
For Job hath said, I am righteous,
And God hath taken away my right:
{Or, Should I lie against my right?}Notwithstanding my right I am accounted a liar;
{Hebrew: Mine arrow.}My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.
What man is like Job,
Who drinketh up scoffing like water,
Who goeth in company with the workers of iniquity,
And walketh with wicked men?
For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing
That he should {Or, consent with See Psalm 50:18}delight himself with God.
Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding:
Far be it from God, that he should do wickedness,
And from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.
For the work of a man will he render unto him,
And cause every man to find according to his ways.
Yea, of a surety, God will not do wickedly,
Neither will the Almighty pervert justice.
Who gave him a charge over the earth?
Or who hath {Or, laid upon him}disposed the whole world?
{According to another reading, If he cause his heart to return unto himself.}If he set his heart upon {Or, man Hebrew: him.}himself,
If he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath;
All flesh shall perish together,
And man shall turn again unto dust.
{Or, Only understand}If now thou hast understanding, hear this:
Hearken to the voice of my words.
Shall even one that hateth justice govern?
And wilt thou condemn him that is righteous and mighty?—
{The Hebrew as pointed reads, Is it fit to say to a king, Thou art vile? Or, to nobles, Ye are wicked?}Him that saith to a king, Thou art vile,
Or to nobles, Ye are wicked;
That respecteth not the persons of princes,
Nor regardeth the rich more than the poor;
For they all are the work of his hands.
In a moment they die, {Or, and at midnight the people &c.}even at midnight;
The people are shaken and pass away,
And the mighty are taken away without hand.
For his eyes are upon the ways of a man,
And he seeth all his goings.
There is no darkness, nor thick gloom,
Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
For he needeth not further to consider a man,
That he should go before God in judgment.
He breaketh in pieces mighty men {Or, without inquisition}in ways past finding out,
And setteth others in their stead.
Therefore he taketh knowledge of their works;
And he overturneth them in the night, so that they are {Hebrew: crushed.}destroyed.
He striketh them as wicked men
{Hebrew: In the place of beholders.}In the open sight of others;
Because they turned aside from following him,
And would not have regard in any of his ways:
{Or, That they might cause…And that he might hear}So that they caused the cry of the poor to come unto him,
And he heard the cry of the afflicted.
When he giveth quietness, who then can condemn?
And when he hideth his face, who then can behold him?
Alike whether it be done unto a nation, or unto a man:
That the godless man reign not,
That there be none to ensnare the people.
For hath any said unto God,
I have borne chastisement, {Or, though I offend not}I will not offend any more:
That which I see not teach thou me:
If I have done iniquity, I will do it no more?
Shall his recompense be as thou wilt, that thou refusest it?
For thou must choose, and not I:
Therefore speak what thou knowest.
Men of understanding will say unto me,
Yea, every wise man that heareth me:
Job speaketh without knowledge,
And his words are without wisdom.
Would that Job were tried unto the end,
Because of his answering like wicked men.
For he addeth rebellion unto his sin;
He clappeth his hands among us,
And multiplieth his words against God.
Querverweise zu Hiob 34,33 Hiob 34,33
Behold, he seizeth the prey, who can {Or, turn him back}hinder him?Who will say unto him, What doest thou?
For the work of a man will he render unto him,And cause every man to find according to his ways.
Whatsoever Jehovah pleased, that hath he done,In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps;
If thou canst, answer thou me;Set thy words in order before me, stand forth.
Thou that tearest thyself in thine anger,Shall the earth be forsaken for thee?Or shall the rock be removed out of its place?
Let him not trust in vanity, deceiving himself;For vanity shall be his recompense.
saying, These last have spent but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, who have borne the burden of the day and the {Or, hot wind}scorching heat.
But he answered and said to one of them, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a {See marginal note on chapter 18:28.}shilling?
Take up that which is thine, and go thy way; it is my will to give unto this last, even as unto thee.
Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? or is thine eye evil, because I am good?
If thou hast anything to say, answer me:Speak, for I desire to justify thee.
Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! a potsherd among the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?
If his children forsake my law,And walk not in mine ordinances;
If they {Hebrew: profane.}break my statutes,And keep not my commandments;
Then will I visit their transgression with the rod,And their iniquity with stripes.
Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why didst thou make me thus?
Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth:How much more the wicked and the sinner!
or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
if so be that it is a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to them that afflict you,
and to you that are afflicted rest with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire,
For if the word spoken through angels proved stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward;
accounting the reproach of {Or, the Christ Compare 1 Corinthians 10:4.}Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he looked unto the recompense of reward.